Tony Blair's pension tzar brands immigration policy 'incoherent'

Lord Turner said without a 'proper debate' about mass migration, the population in 2050 would reach 70 million - 10 million higher than today and 4 million more than current estimates.

The influx would be noticed most in the south east - with dramatic effects on traffic congestion, housing and employment, he said.

Ministers could not decide between attacking the Tories for playing the 'racist card' on immigration and launching a crackdown on illegal migrants, he added.

He said: "What always amazes me is we have piecemeal discussions which never considers: would you prefer a population of 60 or 70 million? It is an area that depresses me.

"The Government itself varies between attacking the Tories at various times over the last five years for trying to play racist cards and suddenly swinging round on a sixpence to be as nasty and tight as it can towards asylum seekers. There is an incoherence about the debate."

The extraordinary intervention by Lord Turner - who examined demographic changes when he headed the Government's Pensions Commission - is the latest from a senior figure on the failure of immigration policy.

Last month Labour former Minister Frank Field said Britain was suffering from the unprecedented influx of migrant workers and that MPs were living on borrowed time on the issue.

Lord Turner said population would rise from 60 million today to 66 million by the year 2050. But he predicted if immigration went unchecked, the real figure would be 70 million.

And the former chairman of the Low Pay Commission said while economic migration would help pay for the pensions of today's workers, high levels of unskilled workers coming into this country would have a damaging effect on those from Britain.

He added: "The economic benefits will be above all the long term demographic balance on pensions.

"The economic disbenefits is that in the short term, at least, high levels of unskilled immigration are bad for unskilled workers and I think to deny that is nonsense.

"There is an attempt to deny that but it just flies in the face of all economic theory.

We were aware on the Low pay Commission that if immigration continues at high levels that could limit our ability to increase the minimum wage because otherwise the legal minimum wage will be undercut by the illegal sector."

He added: "Basically high levels of immigration of unskilled people will be good for higher income people who will buy their coffees and their haircuts at a slightly lower price.

"The undoubted winners from immigration are immigrants. And that's not a trivial thing; maybe they have a right to come. On the other hand, the most selfish form of immigration policy - the best form of immigration policy for our economy - is almost certainly selective skilled immigration, but that has an ethical issue about cream-skimming the skills of underdeveloped countries."

His comments echo those of Mr Field, who said anyone who questioned mass immigration was accused of "playing the race card", which was just "another way of closing down debate".